Hard disk utility to prevent access to bad blocks?

[Stu Rosenberg]

Hello all,

I am looking for a free software utility that would allow me to "map"
what sectors of my hard drive are bad and then prevent Windows XP and
other software (virus and spyware scanners, desktop indexing, etc)
from even attempting to read/write/access these bad blocks. Does such
software exist? Details/rationale below, to read only if you're
interested or if it will help diagnose the problem or solution.

This comes about after trying to do a clean install of Windows (as in,
reformat using "full" not "fast" and then do the installation of XP
Pro plus the service packs and drivers for my internals and externals,
etc). Previously the computer (a Toshiba Satellite M35 series laptop,
ca 2004) would "hang" when opening certain (legit) programs or
accessing some files. The hard drive would "click-click-click...click-
click-click-click" for anywhere from 2-10 minutes before freeing up,
while Task Manager showed no increase in processor or pagefile usage
during these spells. During the reformat/reinstall, the DOS fdisk
hung around 30% of the drive, so I created 3 partitions: the 1st at
29% of HD capacity, used for Windows; the 2nd around 3% of capacity as
"off-limits" so I never access that region; and the 3rd with the
remainder of the 60GB, used for data, programs, files, etc.
Unfortunately the 3rd partition apparently still has some problems.

The interesting thing is that running scandisk via Windows or by doing
Start/Run/chkdisk.exe, the computer will again hang on a portion of
the scan, eventually finishing (usually overnight) and reporting no
errors. However, in the Event Log I can see a lot of Disk Error #7
(device has a bad block)--this is every ~9 seconds or so during the
"hang" periods, and occasionally a Disk Warning #52 ("a failure may be
imminent"). I don't know why Windows doesn't see these bad blocks
with Scandisk, but if I can somehow prevent them from being touched I
can at least prevent the annoying hangs that keep happening
(especially lately--my virus scanner I think is trying to look at some
file there, so whenever the computer starts up on Wednesdays when the
scan is scheduled, it takes about 35 minutes before I can even use
Windows).

Thanks in advance,
Stu

 

[Leonard Grey]

Windows XP does that with Disk Error Checking, also known as CHKDSK.

If you suspect your disk is physically damaged, you need to find out for
sure. Download your disk manufacturer's diagnostics and run them. (It
will take several hours, probably overnight.) A disk with physical
damage should not be used.

 

[Stu Rosenberg]

Hi Leonard,

I have tried chkdsk and chkdsk /r with no success in diagnosing any
problems. Toshiba (mfr for the laptop and the HD) does not provide
any hard disk utilities. From some other searching, perhaps the
Hitachi/IBM utility can diagnose a problem...I'll try that now.

Thanks,
Stu

 

[Michael W. Ryder]

Hello all,

I am looking for a free software utility that would allow me to "map"
what sectors of my hard drive are bad and then prevent Windows XP and
other software (virus and spyware scanners, desktop indexing, etc)
from even attempting to read/write/access these bad blocks. Does such
software exist? Details/rationale below, to read only if you're
interested or if it will help diagnose the problem or solution.

This comes about after trying to do a clean install of Windows (as in,
reformat using "full" not "fast" and then do the installation of XP
Pro plus the service packs and drivers for my internals and externals,
etc). Previously the computer (a Toshiba Satellite M35 series laptop,
ca 2004) would "hang" when opening certain (legit) programs or
accessing some files. The hard drive would "click-click-click...click-
click-click-click" for anywhere from 2-10 minutes before freeing up,
while Task Manager showed no increase in processor or pagefile usage
during these spells. During the reformat/reinstall, the DOS fdisk
hung around 30% of the drive, so I created 3 partitions: the 1st at
29% of HD capacity, used for Windows; the 2nd around 3% of capacity as
"off-limits" so I never access that region; and the 3rd with the
remainder of the 60GB, used for data, programs, files, etc.
Unfortunately the 3rd partition apparently still has some problems.

The interesting thing is that running scandisk via Windows or by doing
Start/Run/chkdisk.exe, the computer will again hang on a portion of
the scan, eventually finishing (usually overnight) and reporting no
errors. However, in the Event Log I can see a lot of Disk Error #7
(device has a bad block)--this is every ~9 seconds or so during the
"hang" periods, and occasionally a Disk Warning #52 ("a failure may be
imminent"). I don't know why Windows doesn't see these bad blocks
with Scandisk, but if I can somehow prevent them from being touched I
can at least prevent the annoying hangs that keep happening
(especially lately--my virus scanner I think is trying to look at some
file there, so whenever the computer starts up on Wednesdays when the
scan is scheduled, it takes about 35 minutes before I can even use
Windows).

Thanks in advance,
Stu

You might want to look at Spinrite, www.grc.com It is not free but has
been around since the days of DOS and has saved me far more than the
cost of the utility. I last used it to repair a failing hard disk that
could not be cloned because of errors. Once it was fixed I cloned the
drive and replaced it. It will test the drive to whatever level you
want and will mark bad sectors as such.

 

[Jim]

Hi Leonard,

I have tried chkdsk and chkdsk /r with no success in diagnosing any
problems. Toshiba (mfr for the laptop and the HD) does not provide
any hard disk utilities. From some other searching, perhaps the
Hitachi/IBM utility can diagnose a problem...I'll try that now.

Thanks,
Stu

Neither of the two commands that you entered will check for bad blocks.
What you need to do is enter the
qualifier which tells chkdsk to check for and attempt repair of bad blocks.
Chkdsk needs full control of the disk
while doing this.

As for marking them as bad, doesn't the driver or drive electronics do that
task?

Jim

 

[Leonard Grey]

The way I understand it, CHKDSK marks bad blocks so Windows will not
access them.

In any case, I don't think the OP is aware that there are two kinds of
disk errors: logical and physical. A logical error is an error in the
file system. For example: a chunk of bits that used to belong to a file
but no longer does. A physical error is actual damage to the surface of
the disk.

Computer makers assemble computers from third-party parts. So, for
example, the OP's Toshiba computer includes a hard disk from one of the
handful of companies that make them. It's easy to find out which company
made the hard drive in your computer, then you can install the
manufacturer's diagnostics.

 

[Stu Rosenberg]

A few comments regarding replies to the thread:
* Thanks for the info on logical vs. physical. My thought would be
that it is indeed a physical problem, as the drive clicks repeatedly
for minutes at a time. That is the problem that prompted me to do the
reformat/reinstallation of Windows in the first place, and seems to
still be present. Wouldn't a full format erase any "logical" bad
blocks?
* The HD is a Toshiba component. It is so named on Windows Device
Manager as well as in my original documentation. I realize now that I
can get a replacement drive for a reasonable price, and probably will
do so if I can't figure out how to salvage what I have now.
* I will check the Spinrite software before coming to final decision.

Thanks all for the help,.
Stu

 

[Shenan Stanley]

A few comments regarding replies to the thread:
* Thanks for the info on logical vs. physical. My thought would be
that it is indeed a physical problem, as the drive clicks repeatedly
for minutes at a time. That is the problem that prompted me to do
the reformat/reinstallation of Windows in the first place, and
seems to still be present. Wouldn't a full format erase any
"logical" bad blocks?
* The HD is a Toshiba component. It is so named on Windows Device
Manager as well as in my original documentation. I realize now
that I can get a replacement drive for a reasonable price, and
probably will do so if I can't figure out how to salvage what I
have now. * I will check the Spinrite software before coming to
final decision

From the one item (clicking for minutes at a time) I suggest backing up
immediately and replacing the hard disk drive immediately. No software
utility is going to fix what is wrong with that drive.

 

[Stu Rosenberg]

I finally had a chance to run the Hitachi/IBM utility DFT. It
diagnosed a SMART error and doesn't give me any options since my drive
was not manufactured by them.

(Almost) All of my data had been backed up previously, as this was my
attempt at a fresh start. Looks like I'll be buying a new hard drive.

Thanks all for the comment and suggestions.
-Stu

 

[nwgadgetguy]

The clicking you hear is when the drive resets to track zero. This
occurs when a sector cannot be read several times, the hard drive re-
calibrates (resets to track zero) and tries again as a last-ditch
effort, in case the read failure was due to track mis-alignment.

It sounds like your drive had increasingly more errors. Definitely
time to replace. Not that expensive, anyhow, especially compared to
the frustration of a drive losing any important data. I always
recommend an external USB drive for backing up (file-by-file), so
information can be available on almost any other computer immediately.
They are not that expensive, either.